Some things you may not have expected had you attempted to play out all of the scenarios possible for Tyrone\u2019s game last night against Quad-A giant Central Mountain:
\nThat the Wildcats, averaging over 44 points per game, could be held without a touchdown.
\nThat Tyrone could even stay in the game without scoring one of its own.
\nThat Central Mountain and its dynamic offense could go an entire half \u2013 the second \u2013 and pick up just one first down.
\nSomething Central Mountain coach Steve Turchetta never expected: that the Golden Eagles \u2013 for years the Mountain Athletic Conference\u2019s best rushing team \u2013 would spread the field and throw 21 passes.
\nBut there Tyrone was, nursing a three-point lead with under five minutes to play, completing a six-yard pass from Levi Reihart to Johnny Shaffer. On the next play, Jeremy Barlett blasted through the middle for an 11-yard gain.
\nThe Wildcats never saw the ball again.
\nThe Golden Eagles ran out the clock with nine more running plays and one fourth down conversion, and handed Central Mountain its first loss of the season, 6-3, at Hubert Jack Stadium on the campus of Lock Haven University.
\nAnd lest you be fooled by the score, it was a game Tyrone dominated on both lines of scrimmage. The Eagles racked up 298 yards of total offense \u2013 169 on the ground \u2013 and limited Central Mountain to 97 yards rushing. The \u2018Cats managed to gain only 20 of those yards in the second half and finished with 147 yards total.
\nSo while Tyrone wasn\u2019t able to puncture the end zone for the first time since 1994, it did the next best thing, namely keeping Central Mountains\u2019 highly effective weapons off the field by methodically moving the sticks with medium-range passes and punishing runs.
\n\u201cI figured they knew we had a pretty good run defense, but I didn\u2019t expect them to throw that much or to spread us out as much as they did,\u201d said Turchetta.
\nWith the \u2018Cats stacked to obliterate the run up the middle, Reihart picked apart the defense with pinpoint passing to the edges and over the middle to spots blitzing Central Mountain linebackers vacated. He finished the game 15-for-21 for 129 yards and no interceptions, completing 6 to Shaffer for 62 yards.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s funny is – for not scoring a touchdown – I would love to see the time of possession, because we held onto the ball for a long time,\u201d said Tyrone coach John Franco. \u201cWe made some crucial third downs, John Shaffer did an excellent job, and Levi really came through in the clutch.\u201d
\nShaffer played his most pivotal offensive role to date, kicking a pair of mid-range field goals from 24 and 29 yards, respectively, in the first quarter. The points came at the end of momentum-changing drives, and Franco would have gladly exchanged them for touchdowns. \u201cI\u2019m not pleased with our red zone offense,\u201d he said.
\nWho knew then that the six-spot could stick?
\n\u201cEarly on, the pressure (to kick) is a little bit lighter,\u201d said Shaffer. \u201cBut I knew I could make them. I knew we had to get a couple quick points on the board early because they always jump out on teams.\u201d
\nThat much is true. Before last night, the Wildcats had outscored their opponents 69-22 in the first half.
\nBut this game was different immediately. Tyrone took the opening kickoff and marched 69 yards in nine plays before stalling at the 7-yard line. The Eagles converted twice on third down – once on a 10-yard pass to Eric Desch, and again when Larry Glace zipped 42 yards on an option play on third-and-5. Shaffer\u2019s first field goal gave Tyrone a slim lead with 7:08 left in the period.
\n\u201cThey play deep against every team, so we were just throwing a lot of hitches and had to change to game plan a little bit.\u201d
\nCentral Mountains\u2019 first series didn\u2019t play as close to the script as the Eagles\u2019. After moving 17 yards to 49, Cody Dolan had his first pass attempt tipped and picked off by Ben Ingle, who returned the ball 26 yards to the Wildcats\u2019 39.
\nThe Eagles then used seven plays and three more minutes to drive as deep as the 12. Reihart was 3-for-3 for 23 yards on the series, but Tyrone couldn\u2019t overcome two illegal procedure penalties, and settled for Shaffer\u2019s second kick, and a 6-0 lead.
\nThe Wildcats wouldn\u2019t get another first down until their final drive of the first half. In the meantime, Matt Murray snuffed out one drive with a sack that set Central Mountain back 10 yards, and Tyrone\u2019s secondary limited Dolan to just one completion in three attempts for 2 yards.
\n\u201cThe biggest thing was lining up right in our defense,\u201d said Ingle. \u201cEveryone does their job, and when we do that, we can stop just about anybody.\u201d
\nWith 2:46 left in the first half, Central Mountain changed the pace of the game and went on a 50-yard drive that fizzled out at Tyrone\u2019s 15. Dolan hit Scott Zuback twice for 18 yards, and Zuback ran the ball twice for seven, but two incompletions from the 15 had Nathan Conway lining up for a 32-yard field goal attempt, which he made, with 18.9 seconds left to make it 6-3.
\n\u201cOne of the things we wanted to do was keep their offense off the field,\u201d said Franco. \u201cAnd we did that.\u201d
\nCentral Mountain went 3-and-out on its first series of the second half, and never registered a first down until 6:22 remained in the fourth quarter. Tyrone, on the other hand, while not scoring points, pieced together drives of 13 plays, 6 plays and 10 plays, eating up 12 minutes and 57 on its final three possessions.
\nThe Eagles penetrated as far as the \u2018Cats 31 on a drive that went from the 3:05 mark of the third until the 8:48 mark of the fourth, but a fourth-down pass from Reihart to Desch came up inches short. On the very next play after the change of possession, Desch intercepted a Dolan pass over the middle that was tipped by Mark Mingle and returned it to the 25.
\nThis time, a Shaffer field goal from 28 yards out went wide right, but not until Tyrone had whittled the clock to 6:28.
\nCentral Mountains\u2019 final series after the missed kick went just 19 yards, and on fourth down from its own 39, with four minutes and change left, Turchetta elected to kick. Tyrone took over with 4:22 left, and after Shaffer\u2019s 6-yard catch and Barlett\u2019s run, Mingle carried five straight times for 12 yards, causing the \u2018Cats to use their final two timeouts and putting the game on ice.
\nGRID TIDBITS: Mingle finished with 78 yards on 20 carries, while Glace added 82 on 11 … Matt Overdorf, who came in averaging better than 115 per game on the ground, managed just 61 yards on nine carries, 46 of which came on a 46-yard tear in the second quarter … Tyrone had four tackles for loss … the Eagles travel to Clearfield next Friday.
\nTyrone 6\u00a0 Central Mountain 3
\nTyrone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6 0 0 0 \u2013 6
\nCentral Mountain 0 3 0 0 \u2013 3
\nFirst Quarter
\nT \u2013 Shaffer 24 field goal 7:08
\nT \u2013 Shaffer 29 field goal 0:48
\nSecond Quarter
\nC \u2013 Conway 32 field goal: 0:18.9
\nTeam Statistics
\nT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CM
\nFirst Downs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6
\nYards Rushing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 169\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 97
\nPass Att.-Comp.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15-22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6-16
\nYards Passing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 129\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 47
\nTotal Offense\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 298\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 147
\nFumbles Lost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1-0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0-0
\nIntercepted By\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0
\nPunts\/Avg.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3-35.6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5-35.8
\nPenalties\/Yards\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5-20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1-15
\nIndividual Statistics
\nRushing
\nTyrone \u2013 Glace 11-82; Mingle 20-78; Barlett 1-11; Gault 1-4; Reihart 10-(-6).
\nCentral Mountain \u2013 Overdorf 9-61; Dolan 8-17; Allen 1-8; Zuback 2-6; Worden 2-5.
\nPassing
\nTyrone \u2013 Reihart 15-21-129, 0 TD, 0 Int.; Mingle 0-1-0.
\nCentral Mountain \u2013 Dolan 6-16-49, 0 TD, 2 Ints.
\nReceiving
\nTyrone \u2013 Shaffer 6-62; Desch 3-25; Ingle 3-31; Weaver 1-8; Glace 1-4; Mingle 1-(-1).
\nCentral Mountain \u2013 Zuback 4-24; Boone 1-11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some things you may not have expected had you attempted to play out all of the scenarios possible for Tyrone\u2019s game last night against Quad-A giant Central Mountain: That the Wildcats, averaging over 44 points per game, could be held without a touchdown. That Tyrone could even stay in the game without scoring one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area","category-excerpts-from-the-tyrone-daily-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}